McDonald’s includes books with Happy Meals in Britain

McDonald’s restaurants in the United Kingdom have started giving away books instead of toys with Happy Meals. The restaurant says that by 2015, it will be the largest distributor of children’s books in the country.

The full program started Wednesday, with McDonald’s giving away the books in conjunction with the UK’s National Literary Trust. They hope to give away 15 million books by 2015, and are also handing out coupons to a national bookseller. The Guardian says the books are nonfiction explainers on topics like oceans and the galaxy.

If this program were in place in the U.S., the Los Angeles Times posited that McDonald’s could give away 150 million books. They would have to skip San Francisco, where Happy Meal toys have been outlawed. Maybe if McDonald’s were giving away books, S.F. supervisors would reconsider?

This isn’t the first time foreign McDonald’s have gone down different paths. Here’s a look: